Vikings DC Brian Flores making himself at home in Minnesota

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EAGAN, Minn. -- It was April 2020, and Brian Flores, head coach of the Miami Dolphins, was sitting in front of a camera for a video news conference in his home office. He was about to discuss the Dolphins' draft, but first, he held his cell phone to the camera.

On the phone's screen were photos of two men Flores called mentors, both of whom had died in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. One was Myles Coker, a former convicted heroin dealer and champion of prison sentencing reform in New York City. The other was Michael Hankins Sr., who Flores described as a father figure to kids in Brooklyn.

Flores didn't know it at the time, but his connection with Coker…